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'Tanzania male MPs should be circumcised'

'Tanzania male MPs should be circumcised'

Source: BBC

Date: 08-02-2019 Time: 02:02:46:pm

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Male circumcision reduces the spread of HIV

A female member of parliament in Tanzania has proposed that an inspection be carried out to determine if her male colleagues are circumcised, in order to help reduce the spread of HIV, news site Mwanachi reports (in Kiwashili).

Jackline Ngonyani said in parliament on Thursday that any MPs found not to have undergone the procedure be circumcised.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexual men getting HIV by approximately 60%.

Ms Ngonyani was backed by MP Joseph Selasini, who said that neighbouring Kenya had introduced a similar proposal and those MPs found to be uncircumcised underwent the practice which involves cutting the penis' foreskin.

His claim is not true - there was no inspection of MPs in Kenya.

However, in 2008 some top politicians did willingly undertake circumcision as a way of encouraging men from their communities to undergo the procedure.